Steering wheel



H. D. GEYl-:R 1,839,025

STEERING WHEEL Filed Deo. 15,Y 1930 Dec. 29, 1931.

I Ill/[[11 Swanton Patented Dec.Y 29, 1931 A UNITED N STATES i PATENT OFFICE IIAIWEYV n. sieri-zia,` oFnAYToN, oIIIo, AssIGNoR fro THE INLAND MANUFACTURING coMPANm or nAiz'roN, 'onIo, A, coIiroiiA'rIoN on DELAWARE i STEERING WHEEIL Appii'cvaiion aiefinecemher i5, 1930. 'serial No. 502,413. i

molded composition hand-wheel. A feature A,

of this wheel is the separate metal hub adapted to be rigidly clamped to the central portion of the molded metal-reinforced main portion of the Vwheel after said main portion is covered with the molded composition.

siinplies and reduces the cost of the molding operation since the metal skeleton, serving as the reinforcement, may be easily set within the mold as an insert and substantially en-. cased with the molded composition, such as hard rubber, since the separate hub is detachl ed from the skeleton at this time. The metal f hub-ring of the skeleton insert has projections thereon which extend outwardly to the surface of the molded composition and'serve as metal abutments againstV which the separate hub is later clamped, thereby giving a metal to metal rigid contact between said separate hub and hub-ring, whereby any subno eifect upon vthe tightly clamped relationship between said separate hub and wheel.

Further obj ects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following descriptioni reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a prefered embodiment of one form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: Y Y

Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of an automobile steering wheel made according to this invention, but shows a portion of the molded composition cut away to better illustrate the metal skeleton insert. f

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionv taken on line. 3 3 of Fig. 1 and shows on a largerrscale a y portion of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a full size section through the die cavity since :the endsrof projections spoke taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

cast aluminum or malleable iron, comprises a ycentral hubring 11 of relatively large diameter `and thefour arms 12 radiating therefrom. Y i steel hoop ,13,v preferably of at sec-l The spider insert 10, whichvmay beof die1 'I tion withf the longdime-nsion positioned verticallyfas shown inFig. 2,4abuts and is rigidly iXedto the outer ends of arms 12 by screws V 14 whi'chare threaded into tapped holes in the `ends"c )iiairris 12.` Thissteel hoop 13 will This separate attachment of the hub greatly forni ayerystrong shock-resisting reinforc-M lently forward against the'steering wheel.

In such a case thesteel hoop13, being resil- ,I

ient, will not Vbreak and itssecure attachment to the .arm ends will prevent the rim4 from breaking free from the end of the spoke pointing `towards the. driver and so eliminates the possibility of the outer end of the spoke piercy In ing the" drivers body and causing a Vfatal accident. 'lheinetal arms 12 preferably have holes '15V cored therein to lighten the casting l.and serve as bonding interlocks for the moldl, edcomposition, such as hard rubber; withsequent shrinkage of the molded composition lying between said hub and hub-ring can have i yflanges 9 as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

The metal spider 10-with hoop 13 fined;`

...7 5 bending" thereto arelcovered with an uncuredplastic rubber coinpound,` after which it is set within Va suitable vulcanizing vmold andthe rubber compound vulcanized to Vform a hardrubberbody. as clearly showninFigs. 1 and2.V

TheV hard rubber'body forms strong well`A appearingmolded rim and spokes Vwhose` cross section .is yindependent of the section of 'the metal reinforcement therein.` All eX- r posed-portions ofthe metal hub-ring 11 are@ also encased with hard rubber except the end surfaces of the 12 projections 20,V which are vpreferably,cast integral with the lspider casting 10. Thev end surfaces of `:projections 2O preferably lie Hush with the `outer surfacel of `the hard rubber. y By this means the spiderA 'l casting 10 is easily located properly inthe will contact, directlyv theY upper and lower .tion oflthe molded wheel.

After the wheel comes from the mold it ordinarily must have the Hash trimmed therefrom and be polished for appearance sake. These operations are also greatly facilitated by being done prior to the attachment lof the separate hub to the molded wheel, as will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

A` separately x made hub 30 is f then clamped to the central portion of the finished molded wheel as clearly illustrated in the drawings. Six driving pins 31 are slipped intotthe -six apertures 21 drilled through the metal projections 20, after which the hub-collar Sris set wit-hin the large central aperture in the molded wheel and the lower main hub portion 3() clamped directly'to the bottom of the wheel by the siX screws which clamp the hub parts 30 and35 tightly upon lower and upper faces respectively of the central por- As stated above hub ring and a molded hard rubber body substantially encasing said spider and hub ring, a separate metal hub rigidly clamped uponithe central portion of said wheel, said metal hub ring having portions thereof eX- tending outwardly and engaging directly y with said separate hub, whereby said hub is `prevented from becoming loose after any subsequent shrinkage of the hard rubber body interposed between said hub and hub ring.

In testimony lwhereof I hereto affix my signature.

'HARVEY D. GEYER.

in'the objects ofthe invention, an important feature of vthis construction is the clamping of'the hub Aparts 30 and 35 directly against the ends of the metallprojections 20 on the metal hub-ring l1,.as Vmost clearly shown in Fig. 3, whereby'the clamping pressure is 4taken by said `projections 20 rather than by several. months use wouldmeduce the clamping pressure obtained by screws 36 to Zero, after which screws 36 would loosen rapidly andthe wheel'lhub become so loose as to be dangerous to use. y The'projections l20 entirely eliminate such difficulties ,and they also serve to properly locate the entire metal insert in the mold cavityas described hereinabove. c

W'hile the form of embodiment of the present ,invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to 4-beunderstood that other forms might be'adopted, all coming within the scope ofthe claims which follow.

What is claimcdis as follows:

l. A steering Vwheel comprising: areinforcing metal skeleton'having. a centra'lhub ring,

-metal spokes andr rim ring, said skeleton having a molded hard rubber body substantially encasing same, a separate metal hub adapted to-be rigidly clamped to the central p ortion of saidvmolded'wheel, said m'etal hub ring having projections thereon extending outwardly through the lmolded rubber and having metal to metal contact with said separate hub whereby the securel attachment between sa'id'hub-and wheel is rendered inde- 

